Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Urgent Action
Requested from our partners in ministry of the Iglesia Presbiteriana de
Colombia and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowhsip:

Justice for murdered land rights defender and his community

Yesterday we received an urgent communication from the
Rev. Jaira Barriga of the Presbytery of the North Coast in Colombia concerning
the murder on April 12, 2013, of a young man, Narcisco Enrique Teheran
Mejia. His murder followed a series of death threats and paramilitary
operations in an area called El Tamarindo in the municipality of Galapa, near
the city of Barranquilla. Mr. Teheran was the son of a land restitution
activist and was shot pointblank in his face while sleeping in his home.

Background:

The Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia (IPC) has been
supporting this community for some time in their process of land
restitution. This community is comprised of internally displaced persons
from a variety of regions who are working to regain their land and stay
together in the safety of the zone of El Tamarindo. This community has
been together since 2001 and includes over 135 forcibly displaced
families. Beginning on January 28, 2013 a paramilitary group called “El
Cartel de la Costa” has been carrying out intimidation, evictions and threats
to these families. Homes have been burned to the ground, crops have
been destroyed and community leaders have been threatened. Mr.
Teheran lost his life last week as part of this systematic and increasing
project of threats to the community of El Tamarindo.

Our response in Colombia:

We have accompaniers who are based in Barranquilla for
the month of April. Two days ago they visited the El Tamarindo community
to offer their solidarity and support, alongside leaders from the Presbytery of
the North Coast. They visited with Mr. Teheran’s grieving family and
community. They reported that while in El Tamarindo they saw bulldozers
entering the town, presumably to inflict even greater acts of aggression and
destruction upon that community. While there the bulldozers began their
work of destroying one farmer’s land. Our accompaniers continued to talk to
leaders and take photographs of the destruction. They report that a
Colombian Army official ran across the field to tell them to stop what they
were doing. They identified themselves as U.S. citizens and members of
the PC(U.S.A.). We give thanks for their bravery and ministry of
accompaniment in this important time. Our accompaniers wrote these
words about their time in the community and the attempted intimidation they
faced while accompanying that community: “All of the actors in the
complex dynamic in the struggle for land were present: the thuggish
paramilitary wielding a machete and a few of his cronies, the local police, at
least 8 armed military carrying assault weapons, the spokesperson for the
“presumed" land owner trying to appropriate the disputed parcel of land,
the land owner by the law of usage who together with his campesinos had worked
the land for more than 10 years, and a grief stricken father whose son had
received a bullet through his head execution style only days before. And
we were there, our delegation of four Presbyterians, there to bear witness and
to stand in solidarity with the farmers.”

Thank you so much for your immediate attention to this
urgent action that is a direct request from our ministry partners in
Colombia.

Please share this action alert widely through your social
media and personal contacts. Please respond to this action alert to let
us know that you have reached out to these persons or with any questions you
might have.

Please join us in prayer for our sisters and brothers in
the El Tamarindo community and for the grieving family of Mr. Teheran.

Please take the following steps immediately:

Write to the following persons, letting them know that
you are a U.S. citizen (and name any other titles, leadership and membership you
have in organizations such as the Presbyterian Church or the Presbyterian Peace
Fellowship). You may write these letters in English/Spanish.

· Tell them that you
demand an immediate investigation into the deteriorating situation in El
Tamarindo

· Demand immediate
protective measures to be put in place for the IPP families in El Tamarindo

· Request a response
to your letter detailing the actions they are undertaking on behalf of the
community of El Tamarindo

There is a sample letter below for your use.

Send a letter to the United States Embassy

ATTN: The Honorable P. Michael McKinley

U.S. Ambassador to Colombia

Fax to: 011-571-275-4600 (this is the direct dial from
the US to fax to Colombia)

(faxing is THE most effective way to get the attention of
the Embassy)

I am deeply concerned by the murder of our brother in
Christ, Narciso
Enrique Teherán Mejia
on April 12, 2013 in the town of El Tamarindo, Colombia in the municipality of
Galapa.Mr. Teherán was murdered by unknown persons as he
slept in his home in a community of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), where
his father was a land right’s activist.

I strongly
urge you to direct officials from our Embassy to prioritize the immediate
investigation of this case and to demand that the Colombian government conduct
a thorough and fair investigation into this murder. I also ask that you direct
officials from our Embassy to call upon the Colombian government to protect Mr.
Teheran’s remaining family, colleagues and
community members.Finally, I encourage
you to press for an investigation into security and development policies on
Colombia’s northern coast that leave small farmers vulnerable to violence.

Our church
partners report that Mr. Teherán was a campesino working
for people’s rights. He was not doing anything illegal or untoward. He was a
leader working on farming projects with fellow farmers who have been displaced
by violence.

Presbyterians
have engaged in ministry with our sisters and brothers in Colombia for over 150
years. We support the ministries of our partners in the face of the violence
and instability within their country. We pray and work for an end to the
violence and a just peace for all Colombians.Since 2004 our denomination, of which I am a part has been engaged in a
program on nonviolent community accompaniment with our church partners in the
Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

As part of
that program, two United States citizens serving as accompaniers visited the El
Tamarindo community and Mr. Teheran’s
grieving family on Friday April 19, 2013.While there they encountered members of the Colombian armed forces
assisting with the forcible displacement of the El Tamarindo community.They witnessed bulldozers in the area and
were told they were not allowed to take photographs.Nevertheless they visited the community and
did take photographic evidence of what is happening in that community.It is concerning to me that members of my
church, and who are United States citizens serving on behalf of our shared
ministry were treated in this fashion as a response to their ministry of
accompaniment and solidarity in the name of Jesus Christ.

I invite
you to join us in this work by taking the steps outlined above in response to
the murder of Narciso
Enrique Teherán Mejia and the urgent threat his community is under today. I look forward to
hearing the steps you take in this matter.

About Me

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation's capital since 1946.
Reformed theology teaches that because a sovereign God is at work in all the world, the church and Christian citizens should be concerned about public policy. In addition, Presbyterian forefather John Calvin wrote, "Civil magistry is a calling not only holy and legitimate, but by far the most sacred and honorable in human life."